Post: How do you pronounce 'Toronto'

[spider]

kkgg7,
You must have an absolutely enormous ass considering all the numbers you have stored up there.

To revisit a similar lecture you gave on another thread regarding the selfishness of people who had the temerity to live in the suburbs when you knew that there were "pockets" of equally affordable homes available to them right downtown but didn't identify where they were. I replied to your post requesting these locations but you failed to reply. I guess you either missed the memo or are still rummaging around in your posterior looking for them.

Why don't you cease in participating in this thread, especially since you don't care? And judging from your latest responses, culture is not your strong point.

I agree with this advice.

Please don't play the Troll card.

 

[nfitz]

Wiki clearly states London's population is 7,825,200 as of 2010. Toronto is 2.5-2.6 mil, that makes it third of London.

Greater London may be that large. The actual City of London has a population of only 11,700. That makes the City of Toronto 213 times bigger than the City of London.

And yes, that's an oranges and apples comparison, but so is comparing Greater London to the City of Toronto without considering the other cities that make up the Toronto CMA (Greater Toronto). Once again, you haven't got the slightest clue what you are talking about, and are trying to convince your father not to piss upwind - rather than listening to those who have lived in London, rather than knowing about it's existence from the Internet.

And before you go on about Metro London (there is no such name - you pulled it our of your assets) look at how big of an area you have to get to get 14 million people you have to include ALL the home counties. So it's not London, but London, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex! The Toronto equivalent would be Extended Area of the Greater Golden Horseshoe, that would be a population of 8.1 million. So again ... a lot bigger than 1/3 of London.

The only possible way you can claim that London is more ethnically diverse than Toronto, if you count foreign restaurants, with all the Indian restaurants being non-English (I'm sure in your travels you've probably observed that about every second restaurant in Britain is Indian), and counting the McDonalds and Burger Kings as foreign.

Once again, I must stress I really don't think one person can be so totally wrong, so often. And I think that kkgg7 is trolling.

 

[Ben Lamond]

Once again, I must stress I really don't think one person can be so totally wrong, so often. And I think that kkgg7 is trolling.

Agreed. This thread is now so totally off topic as to be distressing. The thread subject is purely linguistic and for interpersonal comparisons (e.g. I say it this way, how do you say it?), not about race, ethnicity, diversity, multiculturalism or intercity comparisons. Perhaps you have too, but I have reported some of the above posts to the moderator since I think if they had been watching this thread unravel before this, they would have deleted it.

 

[Lenser]

Just to try and yank this thread back into place.... I was born here - not that this means much, really. When I'm talking fast I pronounce it "trawnnah" and when I'm not rushed and I'm gunning for optimal comprehension I say "tor-ON-toe."

 

[Ben Lamond]

Just to try and yank this thread back into place.... I was born here - not that this means much, really. When I'm talking fast I pronounce it "trawnnah" and when I'm not rushed and I'm gunning for optimal comprehension I say "tor-ON-toe."

Okay, this is good. I'm interested in your fast pronunciation, and I'm wondering if you are one of those elusive "Trana" [sic] people that are referred to with that spelling. I'm assuming that, as a couple of us spoke of above, that your Tr- is probably actually a Chr-. Is the ending actually -ah or -uh and not -oh?

 

[adma]

To kkgg7: if you're so obtusely hostile and contemptuous t/w Toronto and Canada, why are you living here?

 

[Lenser]

Okay, this is good. I'm interested in your fast pronunciation, and I'm wondering if you are one of those elusive "Trana" [sic] people that are referred to with that spelling. I'm assuming that, as a couple of us spoke of above, that your Tr- is probably actually a Chr-. Is the ending actually -ah or -uh and not -oh?

Well, I was born here but left the place when I was four or five, only to return to the GTA when I was sixteen. Apart from a brief stint in NYC and 7 years in Guelph, I've been here ever since. I guess you could say that it's sort of like "chr" but it's really more slurred and indistinct than that... as for how it ends, I personally go more for the "oh" sound... but again, since the normal pronunciation is fast and furious, all sorts of consonant and vowel garble is possible, even acceptable.

I think there's a raft of possible pronunciations out there, and it's not for me to say which one is most 'correct.'

 

[mabelle]

I have and always will call the city Traw-no, pronunciations do vary, but almost always the second t is dropped, often the first o is either dropped or more of a lazy 'uh' rather than an 'oh' sound.

 

[Dan416]

I guess it just depends how lazy you are:

Toronto > Toronno > Teronno > Tronno

I think the second T is the first thing to drop when saying Toronto lazily. Based on the above scale, I'm second-laziest.

Back to the UK pronunciation of Toronto: an educated person would at least have the knowledge that Paris is pronounced "Pah-ree" rather than "Pear-iss". So if an educated person learns that most people drop the second T in Toronto, they should do the same.

 

[Lenser]

You call it laziness. I think it's more about the expediency of brevity... not necessarily clarity, mind you. Shorter and faster usually trumps accuracy and clarity.

Your pronunciation of Paris more depends on your native tongue - that, or your desire to sound educated (or your willingness to appear pretentious). Context is everything.

 

[kkgg7]

I guess it just depends how lazy you are:

Toronto > Toronno > Teronno > Tronno

I think the second T is the first thing to drop when saying Toronto lazily. Based on the above scale, I'm second-laziest.

great summary. This is what this whole thing is about, isn't it? It just depends on how lazy you are when you pronounce it.
Among various European language, English is the least strict one when it comes to pronunciation. There are much fewer rules and a lot more randomness, compared with say, French or Spanish.

Before you object, why are the "oo" short in "good" "wood" "foot" short, and long in "food" "mood" and "boot"? There is no reason.
The letter A can have 6 sounds in different words, while it is always "ah" in Spanish/French/Italian.

There is really no reason to continue discussing how to pronounce it as if it is some sort of Toronto legend. It is neither interesting nor complicated.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Tor-ON-to.

 

[LordWanker]

great summary. This is what this whole thing is about, isn't it? It just depends on how lazy you are when you pronounce it.
Among various European language, English is the least strict one when it comes to pronunciation. There are much fewer rules and a lot more randomness, compared with say, French or Spanish.

Before you object, why are the "oo" short in "good" "wood" "foot" short, and long in "food" "mood" and "boot"? There is no reason.
The letter A can have 6 sounds in different words, while it is always "ah" in Spanish/French/Italian.

There is really no reason to continue discussing how to pronounce it as if it is some sort of Toronto legend. It is neither interesting nor complicated.

Did you not say this earlier on in this thread yet still continue to contribute? By the way, English is really easy in comparison to some Slavic languages such as Polish or Russian.

 

[nfitz]

I guess it just depends how lazy you are:

Toronto > Toronno > Teronno > Tronno

> Teo

 

[Lenser]

English may be a little too flexible for some in its arcane rules and multiple strange spellings, yet it remains the leader in the West nonetheless. Must have something going for it after all.